The effect of social work use on the mental health outcomes of parents and the life satisfaction of children in Britain

Henderson, Morag, Cheung, Sin Yi ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9913-1451, Sharland, Elaine and Scourfield, Jonathan Bryn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6218-8158 2015. The effect of social work use on the mental health outcomes of parents and the life satisfaction of children in Britain. Children and Youth Services Review 58 , pp. 71-81. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.09.007

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Abstract

This article examines how parental mental health, and in turn children’s wellbeing is related to receiving social work interventions. Using data from the British Household Panel Study we examine factors predicting the likelihood of parental social work use; whether transitions into social work use is associated with an improvement of mental health outcomes of those parents who receive it; and whether parental social work use enhances their children’s wellbeing. Taking advantage of panel data modelling techniques, we use random and fixed effects models to account for the unobserved individual characteristics. The findings indicate that poor health, disability, having more children in household, not being married and more than 35 hours of caring responsibilities are all associated with an increase in the likelihood of parental social work use. Furthermore we find that parents who use a social worker report worse mental health outcomes for themselves, and poorer wellbeing for their children, than those who do not. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed as well as implications for policy makers.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Social work; Mental health; Children and families; Well-being; British Household Panel Survey; Panel modelling techniques
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0190-7409
Funders:	Nuffield Foundation
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	26 August 2015
Last Modified:	23 Nov 2024 14:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/76896

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